Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
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Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

30 minutes parking?

A Japanese friend asked me why some signs say 30 minute parking and not 30 minuteS parking, which he expected would be the case.

I was at a loss. I couldn’t come up with any other examples of this, either. What is this phenomenon called? Any rationale for why we do it this way?

Thanks!

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Comments

It is quite frequent. Offhand, the general rule appears to be that when a number of minutes (or in fact ANY unit of measurement) is being used as an adjective, "minute" is singular.

E.g.

24-hour fast;
the 4-minute mile;
a 15-minute break.

Or, with non-time-related units of measurement:

A 100-metre run;
A 20-mile hike;
A 5-ton truck.

Dave3 Jan-22-2005

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30-minute parking says to me that parking [is allowed for a] 30-minute [period].

While you can run a four-minute mile then have a 15-minute break, you can also hand in your two weeks' notice and take 4 hours' rest. Early Modern English allowed for other variants on this, such as two hours' traffic of the stage.

Persephone_Imytholin Jan-22-2005

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In the examples you just gave, "weeks" and "hours" were functioning as nouns rather than adjectives.

Dave3 Jan-22-2005

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The point was to show that constructions using plural forms also appear.

Persephone_Imytholin Jan-22-2005

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for those are confused the ' in the hours' show possession

Ivy1 Jan-26-2005

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As long as we use the hypen after the quantity, we need to use the unit of measurement (time,length,etc) in the singular form.

egs: 30-year-old man; 30-minute parking

Or, 30 years' of age; 30 minutes' parking in the plural form without the hyphen.

naeboo Feb-09-2005

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Nice comment Naeboo but please don't put apostrophes at the end of plural nouns.

Gerry_Merchant Mar-08-2005

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Actually Naeboo's first example is incorrect, but his second example is correct.

speedwell2 Mar-08-2005

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the examples are all correct.please do some research before correcting. thank you.

naeboo May-09-2005

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i think the apostrophes at the end of plural nouns of measurement are quite acceptable too,gerry.

naeboo May-09-2005

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I disagree, naboo--the apostrophes have no place there. The apostrophes in such a spot would imply a possessive ownership, which is not the case. What are your thoughts on why to include them?

The hyphens are correct in my book.

Sarah5 May-09-2005

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the apostrophes being there do not mean there had to be some possessive connection to the object in discussion. they are mere illustration of the units of measurement.

that's what i have been taught to use anyways. and wld continue to do so. :)

naeboo May-10-2005

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maybe i'm wrong. please someone enlighten the legit reason why the apostrophes shldnt be there?

naeboo May-10-2005

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This explains some of the instances when apostrophes are used in relation to measurement:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/grammar/course/punctuation/3_7.htm


This explicitly states it's for SOME cases only:
http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/writinglab/Apostrophe.html#T%20and%20M

This adds that minute or prime notation may sometimes require an apostrophe.
http://www.answers.com/topic/apostrophe-mark

Those are just the first rules I googled and found. Do they make a convincing case for you?

Are you from the U.S.? Maybe it's a regional preference baffling us?

Sarah5 May-11-2005

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